ZnSe films were prepared by the hot wall evaporation technique onto glass, NaCl and KCl substrates at different substrate temperatures during deposition. The effect of deposition parameters on the grain growth, grain distribution and surface roughness were studied. Information on their optical properties was also obtained. Strength of grain boundary scattering in these films was critically studied and it was observed that the films are partially depleted of carriers. The density of trap states at the grain boundaries decreased for films deposited at higher substrate temperatures while an increase in carrier concentration was observed for films deposited at higher substrate temperatures. The films deposited at higher deposition temperature contained less stress than those deposited at lower temperatures.